The present invention relates to ice and beverage dispensers. More particularly, the invention relates to the improved arrangement and configuration of various generally known components of dispenser units for facilitating maintenance and preventing damage during ordinary operation.
Combination ice and beverage dispenser units, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,488 issued Jul. 27, 1993 to Strohmeyer et al., are now in common use for, among other reasons, their ability to provide the consuming public with a variety of beverage products, including ice, without waste of valuable commercial counter area. To further enhance this characteristic of combination dispensers, modular flow controllers, such as that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/496,441 filed Feb. 2, 2000, have been developed to interface with multi-flavor beverage dispensing air-mix nozzles. Such valves are designed to be compact, in order to allow as many as possible to be utilized in the smallest of dispensers. They are also designed to be modularly replaceable in order to ensure that failure of one may be readily remedied, in the field, without necessity for intervention by a factory-level service technician. In order to enhance maintainability of such combination dispenser, efforts have been made to ensure that their various components are readily accessible in the case of failure, which is especially important in the case where a dispenser is built into a counter top. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,646 issued Nov. 3, 1998 to Schroeder et al. discloses a wheel for conveyance of ice to a delivery chute. In this patent, however, the wheel is placed at an angle, thereby allowing the drive motor therefor to be readily accessible at the front of the dispenser unit. Finally, redundancy is often built into dispenser units to ensure that single component failures do not immediately disrupt operation of the dispenser or cause more catastrophic damage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,606 issued Sep. 30, 1997 to Schroeder et al. discloses the use of redundant optical sensors for determining the level of ice within an exemplary dispenser, thereby ensuring accurate measurement for interface with an automated ice delivery system.
It is an overriding object of the present invention to further develop and incorporate each of these principles into a combination ice and beverage dispenser unit that is extremely reliable in operation, yet highly-maintainable in case of component failure. It is, however, another object of the present invention, to extend such principles with regard for economy, eliminating redundancy where possible through better design.
In accordance with the foregoing objects, the present inventionxe2x80x94a dispenser with features for enhanced maintainabilityxe2x80x94generally comprises a lower unit having therein an ice bin; an upper unit atop the lower unit for providing an interface for dispensing ice from the ice bin to the public; a conveyor, such as an auger, belt, or the like, having an inlet in the ice bin and an outlet in the upper unit; an ice distributor, such as a wheel, agitator bar, or the like, in a lower portion of the ice bin for conveying ice within the ice bin to the inlet; and a drive motor operably associated with the ice distributor, the drive motor being located in a space above the lower unit for ready access.
In another embodiment, the dispenser includes a plurality of optical emitter assemblies disposed upon a first interior sidewall of the ice bin and a plurality of optical receiver assemblies oppositely disposed upon a second interior sidewall of the ice bin. Each optical emitter assembly comprises an emitter housing, dependently attached to the first interior sidewall and in fixed electrical communication with a control circuit, and an emitter body comprising an optical source. The emitter body is adapted for removable engagement with the emitter housing for establishing an electrical connection between the optical source and the control circuit. Likewise, each optical receiver assembly comprises a receiver housing, dependently attached to the second interior sidewall and in fixed electrical communication with the control circuit and a receiver body comprising an optical receiver. The receiver body is adapted for removable engagement with the receiver housing for establishing an electrical connection between the optical receiver and the control circuit.
In yet another embodiment, the dispenser is provided with modular flow control valves adapted for substantially simultaneous electrical and fluid connection with mounting blocks on the upper unit. In particular, an electrical connector is fixed in position upon each flow controller such that connection of a fluid connector on the flow controller with a corresponding fluid connector on the mounting block cause substantially simultaneous engagement of the flow controller""s electrical connector with a corresponding electrical connector on the mounting block.
Finally, many other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant arts, especially in light of the foregoing discussions and the following drawings, exemplary detailed description and appended claims.